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Prologue

Stella

Six Years Old

“This isn’t our problem,” Catherine said fro with Grams beside me Everyone else called her Maple because she was so sweet like syrup Marandmother to the world because she took care of any and everyone who needed it I was the luckiest girl, though, because Maple let randmama to me

For the past few days, she’d been taking care of uess

We sat there staring out at the ocean as the waves crashed against the shore Kevin and Catherine’s house was my favorite, and I always loved when Grams let me come with her to work When Kevin was a little boy, Grarew up, he kept her around as his househis house The tere only a few years apart, and they became best friends I ain’t ever known a life without Kevin or Grams in it They were both there the day I was born at St Michael’s Hospital, too, Mama once told me Kevin and Grams were the two people outside of Mama who meant the world to me

I even had Grams’s nickname as my middle one

Stella Maple Mitchell

“What do you expect me to do, Catherine? Stella is faoodness’ sake!” Kevin hollered at Catherine I’d never heard him yell before I didn’t even know he kne to

“I’m supposed to be your person! Your partner!” Catherine shouted back I wasn’t surprised by that Catherine was always yelling when she wasn’t too busy doing her irl who isn’t my own”

“We wanted a family,” Kevin told her

“Yes, our own family Not someone’s leftovers,” Catherine yipped back

“Bitch,” Graust

“Bad word,” I told her

She smiled over at me and nodded “Yes, sweetheart But sometimes in life, bad words are the only way to express hoful so—or someone—is”

“Is Catherine mad at me?” I asked as I played with the seashell necklace she made for me Grams was a collector of seashells, and ever since I could walk, we’d go up and down Kevin’s property, collecting seashells as Grams told me stories about the ocean

Graoddesses and always told ods of the wind, and the gods of fire I liked all those stories, but oddess of the ocean

Graoddesses When theytheir traditions and beliefs with one another They taught e, and we’d always bring the goddess offerings of love and light to the ocean

Gran like her and Mama I didn’t knoweird during the full moon and new moon each month But since my birthday was in March, Grams said that’s why I felt called to the water